PREPARATIONS are on for Sinulog 2019, the feast of the Sto. Niño being the next important event in Cebu after Christmas and the New Year celebrations. We can now hear the distinct beating of the drums and xylophone in places where some Sinulog contingents are practicing their routines. Sinulog plugs are being aired on television and some radio stations.
It has been a while since we stopped watching the Sinulog festivities on the day of the Sto. Niño fiesta because of the difficulty of getting in and going out of Cebu City on that day. Traffic has always been a mess on that day, and we have decided that the better option on that day would be to stay in our home and watch the Sinulog coverage on television.
We used to watch the culmination phase of the Sinulog Grand Parade at the Cebu City Sports Center, even bringing with us to the grandstand our youngest, who was barely one year old then. It was a test of endurance. But we were staying at Barangay Sambag 2 at that time, and the Cebu City Sports Center was walking distance from there.
The cost of the tickets? We actually were like the people celebrating fiestas in the barrios who save their money so they can splurge on feast day. I saved part of my salary just to be able to buy tickets for a number of people so we could have a good view of the dances on the Sinulog stage. Nowadays, I don’t have to do that. I no longer spend for those tickets.
In the past few years, I realized that staying in our home was the better choice, although I would have wanted my children to continue experiencing the fiesta mood in Cebu City on feast day. The feast of the Sto. Niño and the festivities attached to it have gotten so big it has become a turnoff for people favoring peaceful and orderly activities.
Even attending masses at the Sto. Niño church has gotten difficult because of the large number of people flocking there. If you have your vehicle, the traffic and the search for a parking slot would be a nightmare. If you ride on passenger jeepneys and even taxicabs, traffic would still be a nightmare. And chances are you would no longer be able to find a seat during the mass.
It’s a sacrifice. I could do the sacrifice on my own, but having my family with me for that sacrifice is a no-no. That is why I admire my wife, who persists on attending at least one of the hourly masses at the Sto. Niño during work days. But she is more religious than me and had been doing it even before we were married.
I don’t how much those rituals will factor in our quest for salvation. In Metro Manila, rituals like the ones for the Black Nazarene have cost the lives of some people, and there have been no attempts by the clergy there to dissuade people from being too fanatical to the rituals. I would like to believe that God will listen to us even without those rituals.
Lest I be misunderstood, what I am writing here is the manner I have chosen to celebrate the feast of the Sto. Niño. Meaning it is mine alone. I am not even including here Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s penchant for using the Sinulog festivities for his politics. But then, this is the same mayor who once forcibly closed the main gate of the Sto. Niño church compound.